BRIBERY OF LEGISLATORS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 5372, 3 September 1904, Page 10

BRIBERY OF LEGISLATORS.

SYSTEMATIC CORRUPTION IN AMERICA. ; (From An “Age” Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, July 7. There are men in. St. Louis, the exposition city and capital of Missouri, who should be able to write a very entertaining volume On “Boodling as a Fine Art.” Confessions made from time to time within tho last twelve months, under the probing of Circuit Attorney Folk, have .shown that there perhaps never was a more corrupt legislative body than the Missouri House of Delegates. Every aot of legislation introduced was regarded simply as a means of making money. Somebody was interested in pushing it through, or somebody was interested in defeating it; and whoever wrote the biggest cheque had his way. Bit by bit the story has been revealed at different times; but tho whole of it came out with a rush tho other day when Charles A. Gutke, a former member of the House of Delegates, yielding to the pleadings of rids wife, made a clean breast of everything, hoping, as he said, to atone for his sins against the public. Gutke was elected a member’ of the House in 1897, and at onco became one of a combine of that body—a kind of inside committee—composed of nineteen of tho delegates, organised for the sole purpose of selling legislation. For years, says Gutke, the people of St. Louis and Missouri have been persistently plundered by_ these men. “Tho bribe prices,” this corrupt legislator told tho circuit attorney, “were fixed in meetings of the combine, tho procedure being for some member to got up and move that a certain price bo fixed on a certain bill. Other members would give their opinion, a vote would be taken, and the price securing the highest number of votes would ho adopted*/ Then we would select an agentref tho combine by ballot to negotiate for and receive the money. This agent would distribute tho. money amongst us.” Gutke himself acted as tho agent in some of these deals. From his intimate knowledge of the actions of the combine, and of what has been going on for tho last quarter of a century, he states positively that there is scarcely a corporation in St, Louis with a capital of £20,000 or over that ■ has not been “held up” for a bribe by the House of Delegates. The bribes paid and distributed ranged from £SO or £GO up to as high as £15,000. Gutke names some of t'/e specific cases. Tho combine, he says, got £6OOO for its votes on what is known as the “suburban line bill”—a measure granting privileges to a street railway company. On the Union-avenue Railway Bill £3600 was received. For thoir votes on the Central Traction Bill the members for tho combine were paid £15,000; and on tho City Lighting Bill £9IOO. Two other measures, known as tlio Suburban Bill and tho Third-street Railway Bill, each yielded £15,000. These wore some of tho larger bribes during Gutke’s membership of the House of Delegates, but “there were innumerable others.” The ring of nineteen, voting together, could always control the House. As a result of the revelations, twelve members of the combine have been summoned before tho Grand Jury. Charles F. Kelly, a former Speakof of tho House of Delegates, has been indicted for bribery. There are some shady legislatures in America, but that of Missouri eeemp to surpass them all.